Reconstructing South Africa's climate over the last two million years

In a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, a team of scientist working at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, including former School of Archaeology DPhil student Michaela Ecker and current Head of School Julia Lee-Thorp, used multiple proxies to reconstruct the past climate and environment in the interior of southern Africa over the last two million years. The study shows that at Wonderwerk Cave early Homo flourished in many different environments, including environments that are not found in the area today.

More information:

Link to the paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0560-0

Link to Oxford Science Blog: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/very-different-environment-early-toolmakers-south-africa

Link to Wonderwerk Cave project homepage: www.wonderwerkcave.com